My Favorite DVDs and Films Scores

Here are two "Best Of" articles for the NY Daily News:

My favorite DVD releases of the year.

My favorite film soundtracks of the year.

Still to come are my personal lists of the best films of the year (I've still got to check out a few flicks like "The Good Shepherd" and "Little Children") and best CDs of the year (stil gotta spin some more CDs before I'm ready on that too).

"High School Musical" Phenomenon Rolls On

My story for the NY Daily News on "High School Musical's" Corbin Bleu. Keep your head in the game!

Weekend Box Office -- In The Still(er) Of The Night

Every day from last Friday to next Monday is a big day for the movies, with so many kids out of school and so many families looking for ways to spend time together without having to talk. Ben Stiller led the way with the family-friendly "Night At The Museum," which grossed more than $30 million. Its studio Fox said this was much better than the $20 million+ they'd beeen counting on, but that seems coy to me. $20 million for a Ben Stiller movie loaded with splashy special effects, adult appeal actors like Luke Wilson and Robin Williams and a dinosaur skeleton that comes to life? His recent openings include "Along Came Polly" at $27 million, "Starsky & Hutch" at $28 million, "Dodgeball" at $30 million, "Meet The Fockers" at $46 million and the animated film "Madagascar" at $47 million. I can't imagine they really expected any LESS than $30 million. "The Good Shepherd" and "We Are Marshall" will have to be discovered on DVD for most people. It flopped. "Eragon," as expected, had terrible word of mouth.Here's the top 10 for the weekend, but keep in mind that Sunday, Christmas Eve, is usually deadly quiet at the box office while Christmas Day, Monday, should be strong.

1. Night At The Museum -- $30.8 million
2. The Pursuit Of Happyness -- $15 million ($53.3 million total)
3. Rocky Balboa -- $12.5 million ($21.8 million)
4. The Good Shepherd -- $10 million
5. Charlotte's Web -- $8 million ($26.5 million total)
6. Eragon -- $7.15 million ($37.6 million total)
7. We Are Marshall -- $6.6 million
8. Happy Feet -- $5.1 million ($159.1 million total)
9. The Holiday -- $5 million ($35 million total)
10. The Nativity Story -- $4.65 million ($32.5 million total)

I Feel Bad

James Brown is dead. The obits cover the usual territory, but if yuo've got the time, Jonathan Lethem did a lengthy, absorbing, prickly profile of Brown for Rolling Stone back in June. And of course the best tribute of all would be to turn up "Live At The Apollo" or "The CD of JB" and rattle the windows.

Happy Holidays Popsurfers!

Thanks for visiting my blog, especially if you've posted comments! I'm travelling to Pennsylvania then Alabama then back to Pennsylvania and then back here right after Christmas. If I post at all, it will be very sporadic. Have a safe and happy holiday.

Michael

AMC Joins In Remake Of "The Prisoner"

Yes, because nothing says an American Movie Classic like a remake of a British TV series. AMC's venture into original films with the western "Broken Trail" was a stretch, but made sense since no one makes westerns anymore. But a remake of a TV series that has NOTHING to do with the movie or entertainment industry? That is just as bad as their re-airing of the British crime series "Hustle." No matter how good the show is, it doesn't belong on AMC. And neither does "The Prisoner." A remake of this show makes zero sense in any case -- it was completely of its time. Mind you, I thought a remake of "The Office" was insane and I've been happily proven wrong. Hopefully I'll be wrong again and somehow this cult classic will work as a remake. But even if it does, it has no business airing on AMC anymore than "Little House On the Prairie" belongs on the SciFi channel.

The New Poster For The Academy Awards

Every year, I look forward to the poster revealed for the Cannes Film Festival. I don't recall ever paying attention to the poster created for the Oscars, but this year they've announced it and the poster is a solid one that focuses on classic movie quotes. Now if only the show itself would focus on the movies instead of dance numbers, celebrity banter and the umpteenth description of what a Sound Editor does.

"Spring Awakening's" Weak Print Ads

The NY Post has a story on the weak ad campaign for "Spring Awakening," something I was complaining about just yesterday.

"Dreamgirls" -- Apparently, It's Supposed To Be A Smash

Here's your daily fix of info on "Dreamgirls" until the movie finally opens at a theater near you with tickets that don't cost $25.

Tom Stoppard's Worldwide Success

With Tom Stoppard's "Coast Of Utopia" trilogy proven a smash hit in New York, his new play in London -- "Rock N Roll" -- has transfers to the West End and garners rave reviews even on a second look.

Rush, Bright Eyes Ready New Albums

Rush's new CD will come out sometime this year. It's their best ever, insists Geddy Lee! But he would, wouldn't he. Lee traveled the country and didn't find himself pleased with the religious right, so don't look for any U2-like embrace of their music by congregations. (RUSH-ashana, anyone?) Meanwhile Bright Eyes has an Ep in March and a new album April 10. Conor Oberst had one of the most overwhelming amounts of media focus for his album "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning," being constantly hailed as the new Dylan, which wasn't even a crazy comparison. Then the hype came to a complete halt the moment his album came out, which may have unnerved or probably relieved him.

Finally, Sony got a slap on the wrist for embedding secret software onto millions of people's computers and screwing with their performance and spying on them. We need a Privacy Amendment to the Constitution.

The Doors and Ornette Coleman Among Grammy Lifetime Winners

I find it hard to believe, but the Doors, Joan Baez, Maria Callas, Ornette Coleman, Booker T & The MGs, Bob Wills and the Grateful Dead never received a Grammy during their entire careers. (One member of Booker T won a Grammy for cowriting Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay"). They're all getting Lifetime Grammys on February 11. And hey, Otis sure is lucky he cowrote that song or he'd be suing himself for credit on that whistling solo.

We Are...Marshall's Website

If you have any interest in the football drama "We Are Marshall," the local paper where the real-life tragedy took place has done an excellent job of creating a website filled with all sorts of stories and video clips about the movie and the true story behind it.

Organist From Procol Harum Wins Court Case

Forty years after "A Whiter Shade of Pale" becomes a hit, the organist on the track decides he's a co-writer and deserves royalties? A dangerous precedent that may mean anyone who does any solo on any song can claim they wrote it. What's next? The guy who did the organ intro on Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone" demanding a piece of the pie? The trumpet soloist on Sinatra's "I've Got You Under My Skin"? Eric Clapton is suddenly very glad he played the guitar on "Layla." One hates to cut off any artistic contribution, but soloing on a song doesn't mean you've written it (I'd say) and if you DID make a significant contribution to a tune, I'd suggest waiting 40 years to make that claim severely hampers your believability.

Ron Goldman Suing OJ...

...and Fox and Judith Regan and HarperCollins. Seems like he'll have a very good case since it's pretty transparent that they were trying to get money to OJ without forcing him to surrender it to defray the mounting total he owes for slaughtering the mother of his children.

Eminem Divorces Kim Again

Doesn't she listen to his music?

The Best Graphic Novels Of The Year

A very welcome list -- this time a poll by Publishers Weekly of critics and writers naming their favorite graphic novels of the year. In first place, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. That's on my to-read list, though the runner-up "Castle Waiting" didn't interest me. As for reissues, the "Gasoline Alley" reprints "Walt & Skeezix" are top-notch. But my favorites -- not strictly graphic novels but cartoons -- are the marvelous Jean-Jacques Sempe collections reissued by Phaidon.

US Gov't Lies About John Lennon Files

For 25 years, the US government has lied about its files on John Lennon, claiming that some of the info on him that wasn't released came from a foreign government and that if the files were released, that gov't might enact economic, political or diplomatic retaliation against the US. My God, it might start World War III!! Of course, now the files are released we know that nothing of the sort is involved. In fact, the new info says some UK lefties tried to get Lennon to bankroll a liberal bookstore. He turned them down. That's it. Do you really think Tony Blair is going to recall his ambassador because of this disclosure, which perhaps came from the British government? Hardly. What the US and UK should really be worried about is people actually listening to Lennon's music and message. But they can't lock that away, can they?

How Much For "Spider-Man 3?"

An LATimes story about all the sequels scheduled for 2007 (like "Shrek The Third," "Spider-Man 3," the latest "Harry Potter" and "Pirates 3") covers the usual ground. (It's nice to know Daniel Radcliffe is getting $14 mil for the new movie since he's the linchpin of a multibillion dollar enterprise.) But at the end they include estimated budgets of some of the movies, with "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" at $280 million and "Spider-Man 3" at $260 million, to give two of the most striking examples. $260 million for one movie? I remember when having a $100 million budget seemed grotesque and embarrassing to Hollywood. It was last week, I think. Suddenly, "Titanic" looks like a bargain. Unless these movies gross $800 milllion worldwide, they're flops. But given the built-in appeal of these franchises (where the laws of diminishing returns don't apply anymore), they will. It seems like a big roll of the dice, but if you were a movie studio, wouldn't you gladly pick any of them up at those prices?

Is "The Dark Tower" Stephen King's Masterpiece?

A graphic novel adaptation of the 7 volume "Dark Tower" series is coming and USA Today has a chat w King and an early peek at the artwork. King's more literary works -- like "Different Seasons" --usually get the better reviews. Some fans still think of "The Stand" as his masterwork. But for sheer ambition and King-like pulpiness, "The Dark Tower" series looms large. Someday soon, I'm gonna have to tackle it. What do you think is his best book or is "masterpiece" and Stephen King a stretch and we should just be talking about which is the most fun?

"Friday Night Lights" Wins Over Critics

Newsweek is the latest outlet to single out "Friday Night Lights" as one of the best shows on TV.

"American Idol" News

The new season gets closer. Producers are teasing us with the suggestion that they'll have a stunt event in the middle of the season that will blow...our...minds. No idea what that might be, but they've cleverly refreshed and rejiggered the show every year. And if this idea doesn't pan out, they'll wisely drop it and move on. Meanwhile the winner of "The X Factor" (UK's equivalent show) is Leona Lewis and she has officially scored the #1 Christmas single. This is a really big deal in the UK, where major starts jockey for the right song at the right time. But "X Factor" has taken the fun out of it, since the winner of the show has their first single released right in time for Christmas and is invariably the winner. You'll onnly get even money, but you can place a bet for Christmas of 2007: whoever wins "The X Factor." Finally, Lewis is the real deal and will be the first UK winner to cross over to the US. She has the beauty and pipes of Whitney and Mariah -- at least, that's what the US record labels fighting to represent her believe.

DVD Roundup

The NYTimes offers the usual DVD gift guide.
USA Today points out that Spike Lee's documentary "When The Levee Breaks" is out today. They insist it's his best documentary yet, but I don't think it or any movie he's made can hold a candle to "Four Little Girls." "Levee" is worth seeing, but I found it very disjointed and at times confusing. It's basically chronological, and yet I didn't feel any strong spine guiding me through the story. Without knowing where you're going, you feel a bit adrift, not sensing what's next or where you're headed to or how long it's going to take to get there. Some great people, some great stories, but not ultimately shaped into a great film.

Brittany Murphy Is A Drag

She's having a great year, thanks to "Happy Feet" and the January release of the very fine indie film "The Dead Girl." But Murphy kept me waiting around for HOURS both yesterday and all this morning and never called for a scheduled interview. I don't mind actors turning down interview requests but saying yes and then not calling is a complete waste of time and insulting. It's really thrown a wrench into my plans as I try to write about eight different stories and get out of town. It may seem silly, but when you're waiting for someone to call (even for hours), you can't really do anything else because you're trying to stay focused on them and the questions you want to ask. Aaargghhhh. I'm off to run errands before coming back to interview Corbin Bleu of "High School Musical" this afternoon and then off to see a movie starring Cedric The Entertainer.

"Spring Awakening" Gets Big Box Office Boost

Variety reports that the box office for "Spring Awakening" jumped more than 60% this week. No surprise: it had rave reviews across the board, including a money review from the NYTimes. One thing that disturbs me are the ugly full page ads they're running in the Times. It doesn't give a sexy spotlight to the young cast and it completely fails to overwhelm you with the terrific reviews the show got. Where's the quote about its erotic jolt? And the million other terrific quotes. They use three quotes in huge type (and not all of them from the Bway run) as if there weren't 20 different publications they could quote. Those ads are doing the show a terrible disservice. One other show getting a huge uptick is "The Coast Of Utopia." They're astonished that audiences want to see all three plays and that the marathons are so popular. They shouldn't be. The same thing happened in the UK>

US Version Of "Footballers' Wives"

The US take on the trashily fun UK melodrama will -- predictably -- focus on the wives of NFL superstars rather than soccer stars for the obvious reason that the US has no soccer stars to speak of. My only question is what took them so long? This seemed a show ripe for remake from the start.

Satellite Awards Are Announced!

Do you care? Of course not. But the Satellite Awards have been announced. As have the Dallas-Fort Worth critics' awards, the Las Vegas critics' awards and for all I know the Topeka, Kansas critics' awards, the Kissimee, Florida awards and on and on. Call me when the Oscar nominations are announced.

Johnny Hallyday May Flee France

The French Elvis is tired of massive taxes and unless the right-wing candidate he supports gets into office and gives some relief, Hallyday will move to Switzerland. Hallyday is a national icon, so this would be the equivalent of Springsteen moving to France. Unthinkable.

Jewish Cabal Topples OJ Editor

I thought they were busy running Hollywood (and our foreign policy), but apparently they've got a little spare time on the side.

Half Of Hanna-Barbera Animation Duo Dies

Animation giant Joseph Barbera is dead. I was reminded of his legacy when someone joked that the Upper West Side was becoming like the backdrop of a Jetsons cartoon where everything repeats: walk five or ten blocks and you see Starbucks, Gap, Chase, Duane Reade, Starbucks, Gap, Chase, Duane Reade and on and on. The point is not to mock the barebones animation but to recognize that Hanna-Barbera taught us something that animated hits like "South Park" and "Beavis and Butthead" took to heart: lovely detailed animation is wonderful, but all you need to create a lasting hit is great characters. Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Jonny Quest, the Smurfs, the Powerpuff Girls and on and on. Nothing truly extraordinary or earth-shaking, perhaps, but lasting pop-cultural stuff nonetheless.